In the latest Friday Forecase, Eddie Robinson breaks down Friday's World Cup qualifier between the USA and Costa Rica as well as Saturday's Dynamo match vs. the Vancouver Whitecaps at BBVA Compass Stadium.

With the NCAA tournament set to tip-off on Thursday, we asked 12 Dynamo players whose alma maters are represented in the tournament, why or how their team can win it all. Not surprisingly, some players were more confident in their team than others. It's also not too late to change your bracket based on the commentary of our March Madness experts.

Corey Ashe

North Carolina

Because Carolina is the best...

Tyler Deric

North Carolina

We will win because we have the best looking cheerleaders.

Alex Dixon

North Carolina

UNC is going to win because they are getting hot at the right moment. Even though we lost in the ACC tournament final, we are heating up. PJ Hairston is hitting the threes. I think we are going to surprise some teams and make that run to the championship.

Brad Davis

St. Louis

Only way we can win it all is if we bring back Larry Hughes.

Brian Ching

Gonzaga

We have a great coach, a great system and a great fan base. It's a good school and I think we deserve one.

Calen Carr

California

We are going to have to lie, cheat, steal and rob our way past every game, but I think we can do it.

Kofi Sarkodie

Akron

Because it's Akron...

Eric Brunner

Ohio State

We have a quality team that is competing every year. We beat Indiana at Indiana, which shows we can play on the road. We have great players and we're Buckeyes.

Jason Johnson

VCU

Over the last three years, I don’t know if I was the good luck, but they have been having quite a good stretch. This year, I had a chance to go to a couple games before I left college. But absolutely, VCU is going all the way. ALL THE WAY! VCU!

Omar Cummings

Cincinnati

I think we're a good team. If we can go on a good run, we can surprise some people.

Will Bruin

Indiana

We're the best team in the NCAA tournament. We will win by playing good Indiana basketball on the defensive end.

With “rivalry week” in the books and after the 3-2 loss to FC Dallas, the Houston Dynamo are still among the top ten teams in the league according to most power rankings.

The writers from MLSsoccer dropped Houston down to No. 5, after having them No. 2 last week. This is what they had to say about the Dynamo.

Dominic Kinnear publicly targeted diving after the Texas Derby, but privately he'll be ruing his side's set-piece defending and poor marking on the winner. It hasn't been an easy week, CCL exit included, but Houston still have the makings of a title contender. Need to figure out what's dogging Will Bruin.

Sports Ilustrated's writer Avi Creditor had Houston sitting in the top spot last week, but dropped them down to No. 4 following the loss to Dallas. Here is what Creditor had to say about Houston:

Houston got beaten at its own game, conceding two rapid-succession goals off set pieces to fall behind early at FC Dallas. The club equalized but conceded a late winner, compounding the frustration of being eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions League by Santos Laguna.

Meanwhile, Yahoo Sport’s Zac Wassink was a little harsher dropping Houston down to the No. 10 spot. Houston’s next rival, the Vancouver Whitecaps, sits in the No. 2 spot of his power rankings with a 2-0-0 record. Here what Wassink had to say about Vancouver.

Vancouver had the week off to prepare for a trip to Houston. The 'Caps definitely have the goods to pick up what would be a historic win at BBVA Compass Stadium.

What a fantastic start to 2013 for Dynamo Charities! The annual Fire Sale was a great success and with the support of Dynamo season ticket holders, we were able to raise more than $40,000 for Dynamo Charities initiatives throughout the year. A huge thanks to everyone who made the event a success, from the BBVA Compass Stadium staff to the volunteers to Kroger for donating the bags and all of our sponsors. More than 700 season ticket holders purchased Dynamo gear, but the event went smoothly and I could not be more happy. A big thank you to Dynamo Charities board member Rob Denton for getting us “squared” away on credit card readers.

At the Fire Sale, we also sold 50 seats for Dine with the Dynamo (or Picnic with the Players as I call it) set for April 16 at the stadium. Limited tickets remain, so I encourage everyone to act quickly. Seats can be purchased at www.houstondynamo.com/sidekicks. Proceeds from the event, along with funds from Rotary Club of Houston Skyline, will help fund a youth soccer field on the east side of downtown.

This week, we honored Calen Carr and the Dynamo staff for their work with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Many of the Dynamo front office have “littles” now at Rusk Elementary, and we all know it takes more than a knee injury to keep Calen from hanging out with his “little”.

Our sponsor, Halliburton Charitable Foundation, is offering an easy way for fans to raise money for Dynamo Charities. Halliburton will donate $5 for every "like" or "share" that we receive on this post. Please take two seconds to hit the button, so we can continue to put on great events in the Houston community.

We will soon announce details for your chance to golf at the TPC with some of the Dynamo players – hold your calendar for Monday, April 22 and look for information on how to register for the Tommy Bahama Golf Tournament.

Also, don’t forget Houston Tour de Cure on Saturday, September 21. You can sign up today and start raising money at: www.diabetes.org/houstontourdecure. Please contact Marc Vasquez if your company would like to sponsor us and have their logo be part of the coolest bike jersey in town.

In future blogs I'll share details on more great events including: Go for Goal 5K and Diesel Fun Run, when you can get a really good haircut (think just in time for school) and a new event where we will have a toy drive at the stadium.

Please check back for my next blog or follow me on Twitter (@dynamochrtytony) for more regular updates.

On Tuesday, the Dynamo and Dynamo Charities, presented by Halliburton, kicked off the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program at Rusk Elementary School in Houston's East End.

The program was funded through fan donations as well as through Calen Carr's "Big Play" campaign, which included a celebrity bowling event last October. The initiatives combined to raised more than $5,000 to jump-start the mentoring program. Mentors included Dynamo forward Calen Carr, team president Chris Canetti as well as 15 members of the Dynamo front office.

“We’ve got a lot of people from the Dynamo front office who have really gotten behind (this initiative), and we’re looking to keep the momentum going at this point," Carr said. "The impact we’ve been able to have on Rusk Elementary has been huge just in the short time that we’ve been here. It has been a fun and rewarding experience coming in here every week. I have a good time with my little brother. We hang out, play board games...he usually destroys me at “Connect 4”, but I’m working on it. I think this is a good imprint for the Dynamo and really good for the community as well.”

As a result of these efforts, Big Brothers Big Sisters named the Houston Dynamo its 2013 Community Partner of the Year.